Fit Life

Test Your Healthy Habits Knowledge

April 9, 2014

Whether you’re a professional athlete or simply interested in living a healthier lifestyle, developing new habits is critical to your success. But as the saying goes, old habits die hard and incorporating new ones takes time for the behavior to become second nature. Although it can be challenging, slowly incorporating healthier habits will help you feel good, look great and eventually reach your goals.

Think you could identify a few concepts to help you live your personal best? Test your knowledge and find out.

Refined grains. Refined grains such as those found in white bread, crackers and sugary cereals are created by a milling process that removes the bran and germ of the original grain to give it a smoother texture. Unfortunately, this process also removes a good portion of the nutrients, including fiber, making it quick to be metabolized (broken down into simple sugar), which leads to carbohydrate cravings and excess hunger caused by blood sugar fluctuations.

Healthy Habit: Aim for at least half of your grains consumed from the whole variety. When in doubt, look for the word “whole” in the ingredients. The extra fiber will help keep you full and satisfied while helping to manage blood sugar and cholesterol levels.

2. A good visual tool for approximating a 1-cup serving when measuring cups are not available would be a _____________.

Ping pong ball Baseball Light bulb Small fist

Baseball. Portion control is key to weight management. Approximating a serving when you’re away from home can be easy using visual cues. A baseball-sized portion would be the approximate equivalent of a 1-cup serving, while the light bulb and small fist would be closer to a ½ cup serving.

Healthy Habit: Want to lower the calories of any meal? Check out the portion suggestions found in the USDA’s ChooseMyPlate guidelines. By following the program proportions, you’ll incorporate more foods that are naturally lower in calories such as fruit and vegetables.

3. How many minutes of moderately intense physical activity should you strive to get each week?

50-100 minutes 100-200 minutes 150-300 minutes 300-500 minutes

150-300 minutes. Getting in this amount of physical activity may be easier than you think. It could include things like brisk walks, dancing, hiking, bicycling or even doing yard work.

Healthy Habit: Take advantage of any opportunity for physical activity. Regular physical activity will not only help reduce your risk of chronic disease, but a number of clinical studies indicate that it’s also a strong predictor of long-term weight control.

4. To burn an extra 300 calories, the average person would have to walk at a brisk pace for _____ minutes.

20 40 60 80

60 minutes. A general rule of thumb is that most people burn about 100 calories for every mile walked. By walking a brisk pace (>3mph), you would be able to burn 300 calories in one hour.

Healthy Habit: Rest is just as important as exercise. Metabolic rates are affected by sleep patterns. A lack of sleep can decrease your body’s ability to burn calories effectively, making it much more difficult to not only lose weight, but keep it off. So it’s best to aim for plenty of rest each night to keep your metabolism humming.

5. Which of the following is considered a saturated fat?

Olive oil Butter Avocado Nuts

Butter. Olive oil, avocado and nuts are all considered good sources of monounsaturated (heart-healthy) fat. Butter contains saturated fat, which has the ability to raise LDL (“bad”) cholesterol. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans state that we should strive to consume less than 10% of our total calories from this type of fat. In addition to butter, foods such as whole-fat dairy, bacon, sausage and regular ground beef all contain large portions of saturated fat.

Healthy Habit: Create small incremental goals to help you stay on track and motivated along the way. While goals are frequently thought of as pounds lost on a scale, they could things like portion sizes, miles walked, saturated fat consumed, waist measurements or something entirely different like improvement of a medical condition.

6. The best way to build muscle is to make sure that you include strength or resistance training each day of the week.

True False

False. Although resistance-type exercises are important to muscle hypertrophy, they should only be done two to three days a week with a minimum of 24 to 48 hours in between workouts to allow muscle tissue to rebuild and repair.

Healthy Habit: Looking for some workout inspiration? A good place to begin is the ACEFit website. From there you can select the “Workouts and Programs” button if you’re looking for an entire routine or the “Exercise Library” for a couple new moves to spice up your existing program.

By Gina CromeGina M. Crome, M.S., M.P.H., R.D.

Gina Crome is a Registered Dietitian and ACE Certified Personal Trainer and Health Coach. She holds a dual Masters Degree in Clinical Psychology as well as a Masters in Public Health Nutrition from Loma Linda University whereby she received the Selma Andrews Award for Excellence and Professionalism. Over the past 20 years, Gina’s mission has focused on guiding individuals towards gaining a better quality of life. She has previously struggled with her own weight issues and has since lost a total of 172 pounds, driving her passion home to promote healthier lifestyles. Gina is available for media interviews and community appearances and she is the author of various online nutrition and fitness columns.

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